· @ASUS_ROG #OCShowdown hashtag will be used by contestants and organizers for competition news and bragging rights

Taipei, Taiwan (05 March, 2015) — ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced OC Showdown 2015 Formula series, the next stage of its online competition inviting hardcore and enthusiast overclockers from around the world to compete to win both kudos and great prizes. ASUS ROG motherboards and graphics cards are the most popular choice for overclockers as tracked by HWBOT.org, so the challenge puts the world’s favorite overclocking gear at the center of the global stage.

In co-operation with HWBOT.org and partners Intel®, HyperX® and Enermax, round one of OC Showdown 2015 Formula series opens today and runs until 6th April 2015. The new series presents an even playing field for overclockers to compete ASUS products using only stock air or water cooling, with prizes awarded to the top-five participants. Contestants are encouraged to broadcast their results and comments on both Twitter and Facebook using the #OCShowdown hashtag, and to follow ASUS ROG on Twitter — @ASUS_ ROG.

Overclockers with ambitions to keep temperatures well below zero should prepare themselves for round two of ROG OC Showdown 2015 Extreme series, which will begin very soon after the finish of OC Showdown 2015 Formula’s first round.

Three-stage overclocking excellence on air or water

OC Showdown 2015 Formula series exists for those who love to overclock with traditional stock air- or water-cooling rigs, and is divided into three challenging stages. Contestants will have to demonstrate their overclocking chops with Intel Extreme Tuning Utility (XTU), Catzilla 720p and MaxxMem Read Bandwidth.

This series is open to anyone using an ASUS, ASUS ROG or ASUS TUF Z87 or Z97 motherboard. For the 3D benchmarks Formula overclockers must also use ASUS, ASUS ROG, or ASUS Strix graphic cards. Full Formula series competition rules are available at http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/rogocs_formula_r1.

Prizes available to winning contestants include the latest ROG Maximus VII Formula and ROG Maximus VII Impact motherboards, ASUS Strix GTX 980 graphics cards, high-end processors, fast DDR3 memory, premium power-supply units (PSUs), ultra-speedy SSDs and water-cooling gear. There are also 20 prizes up for grabs in the lucky dip, including T-shirts, USB keys, cooling fans and drive racks. A full list of all prizes on offer is available at http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/rogocs_formula_r1/prizes.

Extreme overclocking challenge continues in Q2

Subzero overclockers should stay tuned for OC Showdown 2015 Extreme series, round two of which will open soon for entries. Extreme series is for contestants that engage in subzero cooling to obtain the most extreme overclocking results. With no restrictions on the type of cooling equipment used, Extreme series contestants are free to build rigs cooled by whatever apparatus they choose, such as dry ice or liquid nitrogen (LN2).

Participation in the Extreme series requires overclockers to bench with a Z97 or X99 motherboard from ASUS, ASUS ROG or ASUS TUF. For 3D benchmarks, overclockers must also use ASUS, ASUS ROG, or ASUS Strix graphic cards. The full Extreme series schedule is available at http://oc-esports.io/#!/series/rog/rog_ocs_extreme.